The photo above is of the endangered Langur monkey which lives in the Nongguan Nature Reserve in China.  The Langur's population dropped dramatically due to habitat loss and hunting, a sad and common story.   The residents of the surrounding villages were cutting down forest to for fuel to heat their homes and cook their food.

Pan Wenshi, China's premier panda biologist, hired wardens to protect the remaining animals.  He then went a step further and looked at the larger social and economic factors that were jeopardizing the species.  In 2000, he received a $12,500 environmental award which he used to build biogas digesters[1] which provides cooking fuel for roughly 1,000 people.  Dr. Pan believed that alleviating poverty in the region was essential for their long-term survival of the Langur.  Since then, the Langur population has increased from 96 in 1996, to over 500 today.

The tale of the Langur is a familiar one, and reminded me of another primate that is a helpless pawn in a tragic battle for fuel.

Like clockwork, as summer begins to unfold, I can’t help but reflect back to my summers as a child. Many of those were spent visiting my grandparents who lived in a tiny coastal logging and fishing town at the northern tip of California.  At the time I was in awe of the abundant garden my grandpa kept -- filled with green beans, garlic, lettuces, tomatoes and most any kind of vegetable you could imagine. The peas were my favorite and I can still remember snapping the pod back to reveal a half-dozen sweet, round orbs ready for consumption. It was, for a girl from the city/suburbs, remarkable.

I now realize that those visits exposed me to more than just a garden filled with treats but a way of life that ironically we are touting today as the answer to our energy crisis. My grandmother, Sophie, in particular taught me about conservation and demonstrated in her actions the beauty of living the “simple” life. I’m guessing that most Americans of the 1930s and 40s were similar to her.

Friday, June 13, 2008

SOLAR THERMAL POWER: In Israel's Negev Desert blooms a field of 1,640 robotic mirrors that behave like sunflowers. It is the world's 'highest-performing, lowest-cost' sun-energy system. says the company testing it. Los Angeles Times, California. 13 June 2008. [Registration Required]

INTERNATIONAL: U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged other Group of Eight industrialized nations Friday to back a special fund of up to $10 billion to help developing countries fight global warming. Associated Press. 13 June 2008.

INTERNATIONAL POLICY (GERMANY): Germany's left-right coalition said on Thursday it had agreed on plans to tax new vehicles on how much they pollute instead of engine size in a bid to encourage the production of greener cars. Agence France-Presse. 13 June 2008.

NUCLEAR: Gordon Brown has signalled he wants Britain to play a major role in the race to build an extra 1,000 nuclear power stations across the world as part of his vision for ending the global "addiction to oil". London Independent, England. 13 June 2008.

STATES/POLICY (MA): Governor Deval Patrick announced the rollout yesterday of a statewide initiative to reduce air pollution emitted from the vehicles. Boston Globe, Massachusetts. 13 June 2008.

Last month I visited Walmart's annual sustainable packaging conference in Bentonville, Arkansas. I learned that the first such meeting took place in a conference room in Walmart's headquarters just three years ago and 50 people attended. The 2008 version needed a massive convention center and was bursting at the seams with suppliers, shippers, and buyers of eco-friendly packaging. You can see where this trend is going.

So what does Walmart know that the rest of the world may still be trying to understand? CEO Lee Scott reportedly told his employees and suppliers alike to reduce wasteful, non-recyclable packaging, because Walmart was paying for waste twice - - once when the package came in the door, and once when they paid someone to haul it away from the back of the stores. Walmart saw the opportunity to benefit the environment and their bottom line at the same time.

But how does the world's largest retailer cut the waste from so many products? They computerized a scorecard, evaluating packaging on a variety of sustainability metrics that flow all the way back down the supply chain. Vendors get a score for the packaging of each item and are then automatically directed to suppliers of products that are more sustainable any time the packaging comes up short.

Walmart took a simple problem - - but a massive one - - and created a clever, self-perpetuating solution. Bottom line? Less waste, more recyclable content (that Walmart now separates and recycles at a profit), better economics, better environment.

Everyone hates their taxes being spent on subsidies -- unless it's to subsidize their own industry. It's time for an honest debate about the role of subsidies in a 21^st Century economy and, at least, a restructuring to a more level playing field.

Examples? When I served in California state government, the Schwarzenegger administration tried for three years to push through a solar incentive package. Ultra-conservative State Senator Tom McClintock rose during the debate in red-faced indignation and bitterly opposed any subsidy of an industry that couldn't stand on its own two feet. I've heard that argument repeatedly, often by the same politicians who support massive subsidies to the oil and coal incumbents, despite the fact such "incentives" are hardly needed to get fossil fuels out of the ground.

The latest salvo comes from President Bush, who yesterday said it was time to end subsidies to "multimillionaire farmers." He was addressing a point about sharp increases in food prices, making wealthy agribusinesses even wealthier, partially the result of rising fuel costs and ill-conceived government mandates/incentives to produce ethanol. Ironically, the President told Congress he would veto any bill than shifts even a small portion of the $100 billion/year subsidies given to oil companies towards alternative energy sources.

April 15, 2008 - US NewsWire Service - A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service today apologized for the inadvertent release of an unauthorized letter* written to accompany the economic stimulus payments to households across America. The IRS spokesman said that taxpayers should ignore the letter, originally written for review and consideration by the White House. Congressional leaders asked for an investigation into how the letter was released. The document is reproduced below:

Dear U.S. Citizen,

Enclosed is your economic stimulus payment for 2008. The check amount is as follows: $600 for a single person, $1,200 for a married couple, and $300 per child, for families making less than $75,000 ($150,000 for a couple).

Speaking of children, if you have any, you should thank them for loaning you this money. After all, they are the ones who will have to pay it back. If you are blessed with grandchildren, don't forget to thank them too. They'll be paying off the interest.

Welcome to the New America Foundation’s Climate Program Blog. This weekly snapshot will offer insights into the most effective climate solutions around the U.S. and the world. We’ll also ask guest bloggers to give us their analysis and provocative suggestions for getting these solutions into practice -- before it’s too late.

You might be asking yourself why I would mention “U.S.” and “climate solutions” in the same sentence, considering that while we are 5% of the world’s population and generate over 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases, we are the only industrialized nation that has refused to ratify the Kyoto accord. The good news is that the U.S. contribution to battling climate change is taking shape in municipal, state, and regional governments, despite the lack of any contribution by our federal leadership.

Just wanted to share the video from our Dec. 12, 2007 webinar on the topic of cap-and-trade plans scope of coverage and point of regulation. We're doing a series of these in partnership with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the World Resources Institute -- this is Webinar #2 -- and will post additional in the coming days.